generate Asita, then having heard the narrative from the deities,
repeated it unto the Pitris, O king of kings. I heard it from my sire
Santanu, O son, who recited it to me formerly. Myself having heard it
from my sire, I have repeated it to thee, O Bharata. Deities and Munis,
who have heard this excellent old narrative, which is a Purana--all adore
the Supreme Soul. This narrative, belonging to the Rishis and thus handed
down from one to another, should not, O king, be communicated by thee to
any one that is not a worshipper of Vasudeva. This narrative, O king, is
really the essence of the hundreds of other narratives that thou hast
heard from me. In days of yore, O monarch, the deities and the Asuras,
uniting together, churned the Ocean and raised the Amrita. After the
same manner, the Brahmanas, uniting together in days of yore, churned all
the scriptures and raised this narrative which resembles nectar. He who
frequently reads this narrative, and he who frequently listens to it,
with concentrated attention, in a retired spot, and filled with devotion,
succeeds in becoming a denizen, possessed of lunar complexion, of the
spacious island known by the name of White Island. Without doubt, such a
man succeeds in entering into Narayana of a thousand rays. A sick person,
by listening to this narrative from the beginning, becomes freed from his
illness. The man that simply desires to read or listen to this narrative
obtains the fruition of all his wishes. To devoted worshipper, by reading
or listening to it, attains to the high end that is reserved for devoted
worshippers. Thou also, O monarch, shouldst always adore and worship that
foremost of all Beings. He is the father and the mother of all creatures,
and He is an object of reverence with the entire universe. Let the
illustrious and Eternal God of the Brahmans, viz., Janarddana of high
intelligence, be gratified with thee, O Yudhishthira of mighty arms!"'

"Vaisampayana continued, 'Having listened to the best of narratives, O
Janamejaya, king Yudhishthira the just and all his brothers became
devoted to Narayana. And all of them, O Bharata, betaking themselves to
the practice of silently meditating upon Narayana (from that day),
uttered these words for His glorification, viz., 'Victory to that holy
and illustrious Being.' He, again, who is our best of preceptors, viz.,
the Island-born Krishna, devoted to penances, sung uttering the word
Narayana that high mantra which is w